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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]If this is the case, explain why on application there is Home High School, and gender.
[b]They definitely use both. Otherwise most kids will be only from W cluster, or only from HGCs. [/b]That is not the case.
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Can you explain this assumption of yours, please?[/quote]

I am not PP,  if you're talking about this assumption as "otherwise most kids will be only from W cluster or only from HGCs," I think the assumption rests on three things.

First, that admission depends almost entirely on test results.  I'm not sure that's true given what I've seen over the years about the tests scores and various decisions to admit or deny students.

Second, is that in these types of standardized group-administered ability tests, the same kind of income/performance level correlations are at work that we see, for example, in the SAT.  It doesn't mean that wealthy kids are smarter than poor kids, but that there is some kind of advantage they enjoy in the process that helps them score higher on average as a group -- home tutoring, test prep, exposure to enriching activities, more exposure to books, confidence, less stress and anxiety in life, etc.  There are a zillion possibilities.

Third, I also think it's clear that those kids who have enjoyed advanced instruction -- in the HGC, for example -- are likely to score better.  My DD, who was in the HGC and a MS magnet, mentioned that at some point (I forget whether she said HGC or MS) they actually received explicit instruction and practice in how to solve Raven-type puzzles.  I know her math instruction was more advanced, and so she would likely score better on the math portion of the MS exam, which definitely requires math skills/knowledge that can be taught.  I have no idea why the school or teachers teach Ravens, as it's not part of curriculum, but I believe her.  I've also watched my son's MAP-M percentiles plummet since he's been taken off the accelerated curriculum track after the introduction of C2.0 -- the lack of accelerated instruction is clearly the cause.  It would have the same effect on MS SCAT scores.  There's no way he could get the questions that depend on understanding averages if he wasn't exposed to them, but another kid was taking compacted 4/5/6 was or getting the instruction at home

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